Gate and hinge construction



1951 A. REYMANN 2,563,960

GATE AND HINGE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 15, 1946 hue/275mfl/mJEg/mann.

Patented Aug. 14, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GATE AND HINGE CONSTRUCTION v V Aloislieymann, Sandwich, n1. 7 Application August 15, 1946, Serial No. 690,726 2 Claims. (01. 16-132) The present invention relates to gates, and

while it is of particular utility as embodied in an all-purpose gate for a farm or other large close, it is not limited to such an application.

The confinement of cattle and horses within an enclosure requires a barrier of considerable height. Prior-art swinging gates of. a height sufficient for this purpose have greatweight and are cumbersome to operate. It is an object of my invention to provide a relatively light-weight gate which is adjustable .to present a high ,barrier for the confinement of cattle and horses within a close or for other purposes requiring a high barrier.

On the other hand, sheep and other smaller animals may be confined and other purposes served by a gate of lesser height. It is desirable to provide one gate structure which can serve as an all-purposebarrier. It is an object of the invention to provide a multi-purpose adjustable gate which requires only one set of hinges and a relatively small quantity of gate material. Under present economic conditions and the prevailing high cost of lumber, the most commonly used gate material, the accomplishment of this object is important.

- Another object of the invention contemplates the providing of an improved hinge structure for swingably supporting and withstanding the considerable stresses exerted by a cantilever gate.

It is a primary object of the invention to .provide a gate which can easily and securely be adjusted to present a barrier of varying height within a predetermined range. A

It is also an object of my invention to provide a gate structure which can be adjusted as to height even when latched against swinging movement.

A further object of my invention contemplates the providing of a gate which can with facility be raised to permit free swinging over obstructions which would otherwise interfere with the operation of the gate.

For a better understanding of the invention, together with other and further objects and capabilities thereof, reference is made, to the following description of the accompanyingdrawings. in which I show an. illustrative preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front viewof a gate constructed in accordance with the invention, showing in full lines the positions of its parts when it is adjusted to a low position and generally in dashed 1 lines the corresponding latched, this view being taken on line 22 of Fig. l; I

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the gate, taken on line 33 of Fig. 1, showing the adjustable 1 bracket connection between gate and post;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the strap member and;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken respec-;

tively on lines 5-5 and 66 of Fig. l, and show.-

ing the fork and the height-adjustment lever.

and spring, respectively.

Two posts 10 and II, preferably of wood, serve as a foundation for the gate proper and associated parts. A hinge structure comprising an upstanding tubular inner member l2 and a tubular outer member I3 is provided. Members 12 and I3 are of metal and are concentrically arranged so that tubular member [3 is freely ro-, tatable on member [2. The bottom of member I2 is adjustably secured to post 10 by a nut and bolt M, the latter being adjustably positioned within a slot IS in the bottom leg of bracket IS. The upstanding leg I! of this bracket is secured to the post [0 by suitable fastening expedients such as bolts [3 and I9. Bolt H can be loosened and the gate so adjusted that the tubular members assume. the vertical and other desired angles. If. post [0 should not be substantially vertical, for example, this adjustment facilitates operation of the gate.

The outer tubular member I3 is both slidably and rotatably mounted within a journal member 20, rigidly secured to a strap 2| which comprises arcuate portions 22 and 23. These arcuate portions embrace post I!) and are secured thereto by screw-threaded bolts 25 and 26, respectively. This hinge, comprising strap 2| journal 20, outer member [3 rotatably journalecl within the bearing, and inner tubular member l2 on which the outer member I3 is rotatably mounted, can With-' standvery strong stresses imposed by the cantilever gate. A force couple is made up by the forces of tension acting on the strap 2| and the forces of compression acting on the bracket l6,

Outer member I 3 and the barrier proper are slidable axially with respect to inner member and adjustable to any selected vertical position positions when it is ad:-

3 within the limits permitted by abutment of arm 21 against bearing 20 and outer member I3 against bracket IS.

The gate proper is secured to arms 21 and 28, integral with outer tubular member l3, by bolts and nuts 29, 30, 31 and 32. The gate proper consists of five slats 33, 34, 35, 36 and 31, secured in a rigid subassembly by cross-pieces 3B and 39. Elements 38 and 39 are secured to the slats by any suitable means such as the bolts indicated generally at 40 and 41.

In order to latch the gate against swinging movement, regardless of the height to which it has been adjusted, there is provided a latch mam- 1 ber 43, slidably secured to slat 35 by brackets 44 and 45. The end portions 46 and 41 of this latch lie in planes at ninety degrees .to each other. When handle 46 is down and in the position catch 51 there are provided two guide plates 6B and 69, secured to and projecting out from slat While there has been shown and described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and substitutions of equivalents may be made without departing from the true scope of the invention anditj is, accordingly intended in the appended claims to cover "all such changes and modifications as fall within the true and proper scope of the invention.

Having thusdescribed my invention, I claim: 1. In a gate, a hinge structure comprising a single hollow cylindrical tubular outer gate-supporting member extending at least the full height shown in Fig. 1, end portion 41 passes between 5 rack 48 (Fig. 2) and bar .49 and is at right angles to the bar, so that the gate is firmly latched against swinging movement. However, even when so latched, thegate can .be adjusted vertically, since the end portion 41 can slide Vertical- 1y betweenbar 49 and-rack and post H. v ends of bar 49 are bent and welded to rack 48 as indicated generally at 59' and 5|. Rack 48 hasterminal lugs. and is secured: to post H by bolts '52 and. 53 which pass through apertures these lugs. 1 To permit swinging movement of the gate handle 46- is given an upward turn of ninety degrees, bringingthe end portion 41 into parallelism with bar 49 andithe latch is. then retracted by a pull on handle 46 so that end portion 41 clears rack 48 and bar 49.

--In order to protect the gate against unusual forces such as those produced by high winds there is optionallyprovided a bifurcated fork member 55 pivotally mounted on cross-piece 39 by asuitable expedient. 56. The fork 55 can be'turned to the position shown in Fig. 5, so that itstraddles rack v48, thereby to afford additional protection to the gate, Or it can be turned coun-- terclockwise (Fig-1) through .one hundred and eighty degrees when not in use..

' The gate is secured against undesired gravita tional displacement from any position to which it is .adjusted by a spring catch 51 secured to slat 35 by bolts indicated generally at 58. Spring catch 51 is biased towardrack 48. The end portion-l9 of this catch cooperates with anyone of the teeth 68 on rack 48 inorder to secure the gate against vertical displacement.

When it is desired vertically to adjust the gate, and 59 of catch 51 is disengaged from the rack teeth. This disengagement is eifected by a counterclockwise (Fig.1) turn of the height-ad justment lever 62. r This lever is pivotally mounted at 63 on cross-member'39. When so turned it operates through a link 64, pivotally secured at 65 to a bifurcated lug 66 integral with spring end 59, to pull end 59 away from the rack teeth. Link 94 is eccentrically pivotally secured to a circular. plate 10; .-plate.10 is integral with androtated by handle 62. .Whenthe gate has been placed in the proper desired-vertical position, lever 62 is returned to the position shown in Fig. 1. in full lines.

.ShOllld obstructions. such as weeds or uneven ground contours tend to prevent free swinging of the gate, it can be adjusted to a higher position to swing-over such obstructions; 1

The

ZiForItheguidin'g and protectionyot the spring of the gate at one side thereof, a single concentric upstanding inner tubular member within said outer gate-supporting member, said gatesupporting member being rotatably mounted and axially slidable on said inner member, means for mounting said members including support means rigidly secured to the lower portion of said innermember and abutting said. outer member and-journalmeans embracing a higher portion of said outer gate-supporting member.

2'. A. gate comprising a barrier, a single hollowcylindrical outer barrier-carrying member extending at least-the full height of the gate at one side thereof, two spaced arms integral with said carrying member for rigidly securing said bar-1 rier to said carrying member, a single concentric. upstanding inner tubular member within said outer gate-supporting member, said carrying member being rotatably mounted on and axially slidable on said inner member, a post, means for rigidly securing the lower end of said innerv membar to said post, a journalm'ember rigidly, secured to said post and'apertured to embrace saidouter member said journal member having a width small with respect to the distance between saidspacedarms and being located therebetween, whereby said outer member is axially slidable on saidinner member within'the limits definedby abutment of the lower one of said spaced arms against said journal-member and abutment of said outer member against said securing means, whereby to pr'o'vide for adjustment of the effec-v tive-height of said barrier. ALOIS REYMANN.

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